I even contemplated the headline, “How I Tried and Continue to Try and Make It In an Industry and With a Sport That No One Ever Heard Of (Or, If They Did, They Don’t Respect It) Oh, and While Living in One of the Worst Possible Geographical Locations for Said Sport and Industry.”
Now aside from the headline being obnoxiously too long and potentially very confusing, it did work well as an entire run-on sentence/opening paragraph.
My first experience with a bodyboard aka boogie board was when an old friend tried getting me into it. I was about 10 at the time. Thinking back and reflecting on the encounter, I remember being like, “Nah. I’m not into it.” I can even recall one of the parents giving me a snarky response back. It was something along the lines of, “What? Are you too cool for that?” I mean, I was 10. I don’t think that was the case. It’s just not who I was, or am. Funny that a 10 year old would get a snarky remark from a grown adult though. But, I do know that it was a combination of a couple things.
The first being that I was slightly intimidated by the ocean. When I was really young I was scared of the deep end. (In the pool). I can even remember way, way back when I went to swimming lessons. I can still smell that disgusting indoor odor to this day. Gross. It’s like a bath of pee mixed with chemicals. Steaming. And warm. Gross.
I wasn’t keen on the water. And I sure as heck wasn’t about to have the ocean toss me around like a rag doll. I’m all about being in control as much as possible. Crazy, but true. Getting rolled against my will, without being able to breathe. I ain’t havin’ it. No way. What made matters even worse was the fact that I was a little string bean of a person… I wish I had photos.
The second reason I was apprehensive of picking up the bodyboard was my fear of not being the best at something. My thought process works as follows: if you’re going to do something, do it right, practice, and be the best. If something, anything, doesn’t make that formula work, then don’t even go there. For example, basketball. I hate basketball. Well, not really. Droppin’ 3s is good times. But once you got dudes all bumpin’ into each other all sweaty and gross. Getting your eyes poked, all that nonsense. I’m good on basketball. All that bumping around would drive me to the point of just decking people in a rage of irritability. So let’s just say I stayed away from basketball.
Back to bodyboarding. I finally caved one day. I was sitting on the beach, sweating like a pig and watching two or three of my friends riding a couple. I decided to borrow one of the guys boards. I remember it was a Morey Mach 7-7. One of the originals or THE original boogie board. Didn’t know that at the time, but I went for it. And I didn’t even have fins on my feet yet. Didn’t discover those until later.
Fast forward a couple weeks and I got myself a bodyboard. My dad took me to one of the local shops. Neither of us knew what we were doing. And the surf shop people didn’t give a damn either. They wanted to sell surf boards. Not some extra piece of foam to be ridden by a “speed bump” getting in the way. It was a BZ. Wasn’t a pro model, it was just some stock piece of foam. It was white/grey with a blue marble bottom. And had an offset pinstripe on the top deck. Interestingly enough, 15-20 years later and I’m riding nearly an identical color palette, but of course, much better board technology and custom specifications. I rode that board all summer long. I was terrible. (I remember “nose diving” constantly. Basically riding the wave and the nose would go under and flip you head over heels.) But got on it when I could and kept at it.
The following summer or two my interest in the sport grew even more so. At that point I still didn’t even think about the whole stand up surfing vs. bodyboarding thing. I was just having my fun.
I begin riding my bike from the town over to check the waves. It was about 3 miles each way. Sometimes I would even do it multiple times in a day. We didn’t have all the sophisticated surf reporting, easy access to buoy readings, all that stuff. We could call the local surf shops for a report, or go check it ourselves. We didn’t even have cell phones yet. Right… weird.
I remember finding out about another local surf shop in the area. A couple of the guys had been bodyboarders. Surprisingly not surfers. Odd… But this is where I learned everything. Weather conditions, who’s who, etiquette, where you travel, the companies and the key players; at the age of 13, or so, I learned about the world of bodyboarding.
For the next couple summers I rode my bike to the shop, observed and absorbed information like a sponge. (No pun intended). Kept riding waves as much as possible.
Finally at around the age of 15 I began surfing in the fall. Most people think once summer is over, so is surfing. (funny, some people even think you can’t surf when it rains.) I learned about the different suits to have, and even learned how much more freaking powerful the surf could be on the fall vs. the summer. Man, I remember rollin’ up to the beach around Halloween and the waves were pumping. And I was scared as hell. But, I was hooked. Completely, and utterly hooked and addicted. Mother Nature took me.
Fast forward a few more years, plenty of bike rides to and from the beach in between baseball games and caddying on the private golf course to make money for a car and college, I kept honing my craft of the boogie. Barely anyone in my high school did this stuff. Barely anyone in the general area did this stuff. (To my point in the sub-headline, Jersey, or generally speaking, the East Coast doesn’t have the surf frequency as other places in the US, or the world. You can maybe surf a few times in the month, but those “good” or “great” days are even less frequent.) The wave we surfed day in and day out was practically empty everyday. It was a real-life “happy place.” (A lot different these days, but that’s a whole other story.)
I studied bodyboarding videos of all the international riders that made glorified home movies. Incredible riders, masters of the sea. Rewinding the execution of maneuvers and trying to visualize them in my own head. Damn, that was VHS. Just thinking back on it all, the level of focus and studying I did to try and be as best as I could. And that probably brings me to a main piece to why I never traded my boogie board for a surf board…
It’s a major part of who I am. It’s one of my teeny, tiny blips of a mark on this earth. I do it because I love it more than anything. It’s a connection hard to describe in words.
I remember one of my friends dads asking, “When are you guys going to move up to real surfing?” It was funny, because I remember a friend actually validating the statement with something along the lines of, “Well, it is harder. And it is what people do.” And that stands out to me for a couple reasons. First and foremost, that type of validation means you’re not truly connected with what you’re doing. If you want to chose to stand up that’s great. But it’s not a progression type thing. It’s a preference. And by no means is what I’m about to say discrediting traditional stand up surfers. While it may be harder in the entry level stages of stand up surfing vs. grabbing a bodyboarding; bodyboarders tend to have different – commonly overlooked – challenges later on in stages of progression. For example, different wave conditions are better or worse for different water crafts. A surfer may have an easier time riding one type of wave, but a harder time riding another. A bodyboarder can be very limited in smaller or weaker conditions. And the ability to execute high profile maneuvers is much more complex because of those limited conditions. (this also goes for traditional surfers) But, to elaborate further; on a 3 foot day, a surfer may be able to “pump” his way down the face while generating loads of speed and do a big air off a section. On the other hand, a bodyboarder is much more restricted. He absolutely needs to find the speed pockets of the wave, needs to be much more precise with the “lines” he draws. Ultimately, a bodyboarder needs strong wave-knowledge. It’s much harder for a bodyboarder to pull something off spectacular in less than optimal conditions. Things must be precise, where a surfer may have a bit more forgiveness or an easier time generating speed in junky conditions. Conversely, a surfer may have more difficulty in other conditions such as fast or “slabby” waves.
Either way, at the end of the day, each sport has it’s unique challenge(s). Bodyboarders, however, have been traditional bashed because of the whole “laying down” thing.
But hey, all that doesn’t really matter now does it? While I think bodyboarding doesn’t get the credit it deserves, it’s not my sport of choice to “be cool.” It’s because of the connection and love for it.
Note: The following passage is a new addition to this article as of July 3rd, 2016.
I picked up a soft top longboard. Eight foot and purchased a Costco. What’s up, kook?! To my surprise—I had a great time. Nothing will ever replace the rush I get on a bodyboard, but when the surf is small, working some standup swagger is a ton of fun.
Coming Up in Part II: The Epic Travels and Personal Growth…
I made a promise to document this entire process from start to finish. But as you can imagine, after surgery I was completely whacked. All kinds of banged up. This was my attempt at recapping how approximately 72 hours went down the day of surgery and the next few days after. This is what you can expect right after a SLAP tear repair.
ENTRY FOUR: December 24, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013: Three holes, a series of sutures. The labrum is reattached back to the glenoid. Arm is completely numb, I’ve got a catheter in my neck. The operation was only supposed to be 45-minutes. It turned out to be 2 hours. That means there was more work done than expected. I also pissed my pants. I drink tons of water. My arm flopped around out of the sling when I went to pee. It was creepy as hell. It just dangled there as I stood creeped out and confused.
Saturday, December 21, 2013: painful as shit. meds needed. sleep completely sucks. recliner is the best.
Sunday, December 22, 2013: Painful as shit still, but improving, sleep still sucks. Took the catheter out. Feeling in arm slowly comes back.
Monday, December 23rd, 2013: Had my first physical therapy session. I’ll be doing once per week for 2 weeks. It’s all passive range of motion. Basically just stretching with someone else doing the work (therapist).
OTHER FUNNY INSTANCES
Putting on a t-shirt is the most incredible test of patience in the world. Pain pills are the stomach and digestive tracts nemesis. And brushing teeth is a challenge.
Trying to stay positive.
The rehab road ahead.
My dog. And why I pee’d my pants.
This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com
I was really excited to get started on week six. I’ve been progressing along well and now it’s time to finally get into the strength stuff. I also knew I had my rescheduled post-op check in with Dr. Torpey so I was looking forward to hearing his feedback on progress.
He had me put my arms in several positions, lifting it overhead, to the sides, and reaching behind my back. I’m still not to 100% ROM, but everyday does continue to improve. He let me know that the six sutures I had was a lot, and reiterated that fact that my muscular strength really masked the injury’s symptoms before I got the surgery. I was basically lifting and lifting and paddling and paddling, just making things worse without even really feeling it. Kinda crazy. All in all, he feels I’ve made good progress and wants to see me again in four weeks which will be in early March.
Some good news is that I’m also officially able to do some “light” jogging and shorter runs now which is great considering how stir crazy I’ve been. (even though I’m not a huge fan of running.)
I continue to live in my bedroom, stretching daily, and whenever I can, going through all the usual motions. However, this week I did experience a few setbacks. With starting to strength-train I noticed my arm “catching” more often and getting into some kind of spasms. For example, on Tuesday I added very light internal and externals with resistance bands, 2 sets of 15 repetitions each. I’ve also started doing neutral grip lateral raises with 3 lb. dumbbells, and very light machine rows. The internal and externals felt fine, however the lateral raises created some clicking and popping, and the rows took a little while to get used to. The next day in the office my arm froze up on me three times where I had to do hanging arm circles or “pendulums” for a couple minutes. It’s been slightly frustrating, especially considering how many projects have been going on a work on top of not being able to really train. Some days are pretty crazy, I’ll be up at 7AM, work until 7-8PM, I’ll stretch, sometimes even pass out for a couple hours, then up working and then stretching again in the middle of the night, sleeping a few hours then repeat. Not ideal for healing, shit, not ideal for general wellbeing, but I’m a man on a mission and I’m pushing through everyday on all fronts. Gunning for record traffic numbers on MensFitness.com in January, redesigning the website, building Super Bowl coverage, Olympic coverage, launching a Yoga hub, coordinating workout challenge videos, coordinating a major summer transformation program, preparing one of our brand ambassadors for the Ultimate Athlete Games, and preparing for a relaunch of HUMANFITPROJECT.com on the sneak-tip. Wooooooo, that’s a lot. I’ve officially dubbed myself, Sweatpant Man.
This spring and summer I’m going to be bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter. Until next week…
Nothing entirely too eventful happened in week 5 except for continued improvements in my range of motion centimeter by centimeter. I’ve seen some great progress lifting my arm overhead and to the sides both on it’s own and assisted with a golf club, PV pipe or using the wall, however, there’s still a lot of work to go. I’ve basically been going to work, hitting up therapy or going into my room to do all the exercises I need to do. Weekends have basically been the same thing, living in my bedroom, working on Men’s Fitness and HUMANFITPROJECT material, then doing my exercises.
This week the shoulder has been a bit more sore than usual, me and the therapist both agree it’s most likely from being aggressive with the exercises and the ridiculously abnormal cold temperatures don’t help much. I was also scheduled for my 2nd post-op checkup with the surgeon, however, a snowstorm cancelled that. I’ll have an update on that in week 6.
But, I did find out two additional pieces of good news. The first is that this approaching week (6) I’ll be transitioning again out of phase two which was the active assisted range of motion work and will begin very light strengthening. I’ll always continue to work on my range of motion, however, now we’re can start focusing on getting me stronger. The other news is that a new US-based equipment company, HAVYK is going to be sending me several of the their products once I can get even more aggressive in the strength building process. The first product I’ll be receiving is the HAVYKsliders, they basically look like small “dolly’s” for your hands. Under normal circumstances I would use these for advanced versions of pushups and planks for upper body and core strength, but for me, initially I’m going to use these to stretch forward and perform a variety of lightly range of motion movements. MMA legend Bas Rutten even used them to rehab his shoulder. The next will be the HAVYKbar, but I’ll dive into that as I’m further along down the line.
All in all, another positive week, strength training is in sights, range of motion continues to improve, and support is on it’s way.
Guys have been tossing around weights to build mass for quite some time. A lot has changed since back in Arnold’s day, but a lot has also stayed the same. The Standards are bare-bones muscle-building tactics. Straight sets, moderate rest, and traditional exercises.
Week four was another great one. My first therapy session of the week I was officially allowed to no longer use my sling. It seemed as though by week 2-3 I didn’t really need it much, but week 4 really was the clincher. It’s funny, some people in the office don’t even remember I got it done. Either way, pretty awesome feeling to not have to struggle with putting that thing on before and after work over my heavy winter jacket, then walk around with it all day. Good riddance, sling. Week four has also been the start of active-assisted range of motion exercises. Now instead of my therapist moving my arm and shoulder herself, I do a number of different exercises myself to help regain my ranges again. On my first day of therapy I went through a series of 5 or 6 exercises, 1 set with 10 repetitions with 10 second holds. I was also instructed to perform these exercises twice per day on my own. I’d typically do a few movements in the morning before work, a couple movements at the office, then a full routine when I’m home at night. By the second day of therapy that week there was a huge difference in what I was able to do, and how much less painful it was when really pushing the limits a bit. After my second session at therapy I also was given two additional exercises to add to the routine, one is/was a towel stretch behind the back, which has been very challenging, and uncomfortable. The other is to stretch across the body which also has been tough.
All in all, week four has been another positive one. I’m still incredibly hungry and eager to get back to my normal training. I’m told I have three weeks of active-assisted, then when finally move into “strength”. So two more weeks remain of active-assisted. I’m hopeful to have full range of motion by January 31st while also be able to begin running again. And at that point my labrum should be fully reattached to the glenoid. January 21st is my second post-op follow up with my surgeon so we’ll have an update on that in week 5.
It might only be week 3 out of a long process, but I continue to see improves every single day. It’s less and less pain and more and more mobility. I’ve been removing the sling a bit more often to feel like a human being, but I’m still very careful. Rehab has been a bit slow, I’m still in the passive range of motion phase where my therapist Sheela stretches me out herself without me doing anything. The great news is that next week I begin active-assisted range of motion. That means I’ll be moving my arm on my own with some assistance such as a swiss ball, pulleys, and wheels. As simple and back-to-basics as it is, it’s really got me motivated. Everyday I’m positive.
This past week a few other things have been going on. I ended up logging back onto Bodybuilding.com and reordered a number of the different supplements I ordered pre-operation to assist with the recovery process, and believe it or not, the mental state. Some call it the placebo effect, but there certainly is something to be said about having a good routine, waking up, taking your supplements, etc. I think it’s almost like you’re subconsciously reassuring yourself that you love yourself, and that you’re a believer, a dreamer, and strive to make things happen. So I ordered my Elasti-joint, Cissus, Glutamine, Fiber and Branch Chain Aminos and have been religiously taking them along with my multi-v’s, fish oil, and regular protein supplementation.
In terms of my physique and body, I found out I dropped about 10 pounds since the operation, pretty wild. I know I’ve been keeping my diet clean, possibly even eating less (especially peanut butter) so that can contribute to it. I feel and see muscle mass atrophying and my abs fading a bit, but I’m not freaking out, I know I’ll get it back quick.
I also started to look back at some of the things I’ve been documenting along the way and I’m excited to roll it out. Surgery is no easy task, especially one that takes you out of the things you love and live for. My life revolves around my bodyboarding and being in the gym. Missing a season in the water and not being able to train completely sucks, but what makes things great, is that I’m hungrier than ever. I can’t wait to have some serious fitness goals in my face that I want to conquer, I can’t wait to begin producing more fitness content again, and I can’t wait to get back into the water stronger, and more dominating than ever. This experience has been humbling that’s for sure. And it’s sucked, but I’m so incredibly positive and inspired. This needed to happen to me, and it did happen to me, just like all the other events in my life. I’m beginning to learn to jump on opportunities, and not take things for granted.
Time to attack week four. Active-assisted here I come.
This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com
The timing of week two of my recovery came at an interesting time. Last week was New Year’s and we’ve been rolling out our “resolution” content like crazy. And when you read all the other stories out there, you’ll come across all different types of workout programs and diets. I could only imagine how overwhelming its been for people. Well, I happened to be perusing through my Twitter feed and came across something interesting. Researchers at the Lisbon University Institute conducted a study on over 200 subjects for a three week period. Each of the subjects were questioned how important they felt it was for your health to follow daily recommendations for food intake, how they might achieve the daily intake, if they intended on achieving it, and their behaviors. Participants then were to log their food intake for each week. The study found that those who believed in the importance of healthy foods, and had confidence in their ability to follow recommended intake was key to an individuals good intentions, however, consumption turned out to be optimized when the subject had actual strategies in place to combat situations that could undermine their healthy habits. So at the end of the day, planning and strategy beats out having the willpower to succeed. Funny how this directly related to my current situation.
I’ve always been someone with strong will power, and always planned every single thing out. But, I knew that this injury would put me out for a while, and I knew that I need to have a calendar, set specific milestones, and document my journey. I know what I have to do, and what I’ve been having to do, but it’s certainly been optimized by keeping track of everything.
Now back to the injury, I’m continuing to see steady progress. A few small milestones have been keeping me energized and excited. Overall, I haven’t been experiencing as much pain as the days and weeks go by. More and more I’m beginning to naturally use my arm, but still being careful not to lift or pick anything up. A few times I catch myself moving into a position where I stretch and I can feel the tightness and it reminds me. But one really great thing has been sleeping. I’ve finally able to comfortably lay on my bed, type on the computer and fall asleep. The first week I was still waking up at 4AM or some with pain. A few other positive things have been that it’s getting a bit easier to shower, dry off, brush my teeth, and even when I need to lean across my bed to reach my phone or alarm clock, I don’t need to get up now, I can carefully reach across my body. I can even raise my arm up with a water bottle to drink, and sitting at my desk to work and type isn’t as uncomfortable anymore either.
The only thing that’s been sort of messing with me has been my inability to really do any kind of working out. I still can’t run because of the “arm swinging motion”, and even though there’s some research that if you have an injury on one side, you can train the other and it will help reduce atrophy. Seems interesting how the body wants to naturally balance itself out, but I rather not look like Quagmire after his marathon reclusiveness after he discovered the “dirt” you could find on the internet. But overall, I’m feeling good, diet is still super clean, I’ve been loading up on veggies, keeping the carbs and fats down while maintaining my protein intake. Body seems to be losing a bit of muscle and holding a bit more fat, but that’s expected. I’m hopeful that by the end of the month I’ll be able to get three-four good runs and jogs in.
In the meantime, staying positive…
This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com
I never thought about injuries. I never thought about envietable time limits. This is my first hand account of sensing something was wrong, finding an injury, weighing my options, deciding on next steps, and documenting the physical and emotional road to making a comeback.
I’ve been blessed with a dream of a life, living in a world of activity, adventure, sports and fitness. This was a reminder to never take things for granted. Hard lessons have been learned, acceptance, and deeper level of appreciation slapped in the face.
I’ve made typos in my documentation, and have barely made any edits. This is the story as raw as it gets. I call it #TheIronWill.
ENTRY ONE: Approximately early Fall 2013
Injuries suck. And they suck because they mess with you on so many levels, even more so for athletes. When I recently found out a had a tear in my right shoulder I was completely devastated. Of course, things could always be way worse, but being a competitive person, and a guy who’s life revolves around being in the ocean year-round and weight training– it’s a pretty shitty situation.
How the damage was done
About two years ago there was a large swell that swept up the east coast in December. Some even called it, “Doomsday”, because it was an abnormally large system, and coincidentally, a month or so after Hurricane Sandy. As usual for me, I got prepped the night before, did my yoga [SEE: The 10-Minute Yoga Fix], some stretches, got my board, fins, wetsuit, prepared my food, and I was all set for a full day of surf. That morning, I got up early, same routine, dynamic warmup, stretches…I was good to go.
I remember one wave swinging in that I got into position for. Paddled, was locked in, then went up to the lip to go for air.
This is NOT a photo from the beach that day, but to put things into perspective. It could have looked something like this:
photo: unknown
Everything was executed perfectly, but I knew I tried performing this in shallow conditions, the water was obviously bitter cold, and my muscles were stiff — the impact was going to rough. I tucked my right elbow in and prepared for impact. As predicted, the impact was powerful and I couldn’t stick it. I came back up to the surface slightly frustrated, but felt physically fine, except for some slight whiplash in my neck and tightness on my top of my shoulder… again, this was something I’ve felt before.
After my surf session, I got back into the gym as usual. Everything seemed fine but I did notice a bit more stiffness in the shoulder after a bunch of bench and shoulder presses. I decided to dial it back with less volume and weight. Another week or two passed, and I noticed my strength had gone down, but I figured I was just overtrained. So I decided to take a couple more days off in between workouts, and work around any chest or shoulder exercises, then continue on.
A few months later, I had a trip to Miami in February and went through a CrossFit workout which even involved overhead presses, but I felt strong, there was no irritation, and I thought I was out of the woods. For the most part I trained rather conservatively and was all-good. Then as spring approached, I started to train more outdoors and was combining bodyweight workouts with 5K runs. After one of the workouts which involved: 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 kettlebell swings, and 100 toes-to-bar while running a 5K, I noticed my entire right shoulder was very sore again. Later that week, I wanted to test to see if it was a fluke thing, so I tried to lightly bench press, no good. It was very unstable-feeling.
After all these months of dialing back, then picking it back up, then dialing back, I finally decided to go get checked out in July by my orthopedic guy, Dr. Brian Torpey from Professional Orthopedics. Sure enough, an MRI confirmed: SLAP tear. The only lucky thing was, there was no bicep or rotator cuff involvement.
The analysis and head games
SLAP tears really suck. No one is exactly sure how to treat them, and whether surgery is worth it. Most throwing athletes never really return back to their previously level of play. Thank god my baseball career had been over for years. But I knew this would interrupt my surfing, and my weight training. So over the course of July to November I was back and forth on what I wanted to do. In a way, when I backed off with the volume, stopped overhead work and bench pressing, I naturally rehabbed it. Then when I wanted to “step on it” a bit, I noticed more dull pain and soreness after a full day of paddling. But my strength, motivation and head started to play games with me. I couldn’t get over the thought of being injured, knowing I’m injured, but training in a limited capacity. I didn’t like the idea of limited-capacity. But it was a constant back and forth on what to do. Surgery, or no surgery. I even began to sink into a depression. My entire life and purpose for training was to progress and evolve, now I was dealing with being “limited”.
My Options – Non-Surgical Rehab
Some people have asymptomatic tears, and others with more pain. For me it would come and go. Out of all the doctors I spoke with, each quite simply laid it out: you can live with the tear, get back to normal, but not necessarily back to the level in which you want to train at again. And, it could get worse, or it might not.
My Second Option – Surgery/Rehab
Face a long road to recovery, but for the things I enjoy in life, I’d be back to 100% capacity at about three months. Four-six weeks in a sling as the labrum reattaches and heals itself back to the glenoid– only to remove it for range of motion exercises. From there I’m looking at several, several weeks of additional rehab and re-strengthening.
THE DECISION
I’ve opted for the surgery route. Not being able to bench press, do dips, muscle-ups, overhead presses, is just not something I’m willing to accept yet. I’ve bit the bullet, and made it happen.
The week’s takeaway
1. Injuries suck. Do everything in your power to prevent getting hurt. Train smart by warming up, learning proper mechanics, and most importantly, keep the ego in check.
2. When faced with a decision, think things through, but then stick to your guns, don’t second guess yourself. Teetering back and forth will do you no good.
I’m exactly one week post-operation and things seem to be going well. A lot has gone on in the past 7 days, and a lot of quick improves were made, some funny stuff happened, but it’s still a long haul.
ENTRY FOUR: December 27, 2013
I’m able to completely use my hand, type, and bend my elbow without any pain. I do have a dull pain from time to time, and a sharp pain if I move it too quickly. The first couple days I was taking pain pills every 4 hours, and I slowly weaned away to every 6, then 8, now it’s usually only one per day if I really need it. I did this over a course of 3-4 days. I think I tried to stop too soon, but I hated taking the damn things. You can’t go to the bathroom… Terrible.
First session of rehab was on the Monday after surgery, getting stretched out killed, but at the same time it felt really good. My therapist was very impressed with the range of motion. I also had a follow up appointment with the doctor on Friday, he was also impressed with the range of motion of how I looked and felt.
However, it did turn out that the tear was a bit more extensive than originally thought. The doc told me I actually have 6 sutures around the shoulder, and it was progressively getting worse. All of the muscle mass I had surrounding the joint was essentially masking the pain and allowing me to push harder and harder without me knowing I was worsening the injury. Deadlifts, for example, never hurt me to do them, but it was putting tons of strain on the bicep tendon that’s attached to the labrum.
MILESTONES
I filled out some milestones today. Added running to my list at about 4-5 weeks.
This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com
